Book Reviews by Lindsay

The Retrieval Artist

The short novel that started the entire Retrieval Artist series, The Retrieval Artist introduced Miles Flint to the world. Hugo-nominated, chosen as one of the best stories of the year, The Retrieval Artist created an entire universe, and Flint himself became what io9 calls “one of the top ten science fiction detectives ever.”

Part CSI, part Blade Runner, and part hard-boiled gumshoe, the retrieval artist of the series title, one Miles Flint, would be as at home on a foggy San Francisco street in the 1940s as he is in the domed lunar colony of Armstrong City.
-The Edge

It feels like a popular TV series crossed with a Spielberg film-engaging…
-Locus on The Disappeared

Rusch mounts hard-boiled noir on an expansive sf background with great panache.
-Booklist on Consequences

Ok, so I could not get a good synopsis of The Retrieval Artist, so I will supply a short one.

Miles Flint is the best in his field and it has allowed him a life of luxury in the Armstrong Moon Colony. It also allows him the right to be picky about the cases he takes. He has no intention on helping the beautiful brunette find her mother but he soon finds himself searching for one more of the Disappeared.

Brief, but this is a rather short novel and I have no skills when it comes to writing synopsizes. The best I can say about The Retrieval Artist is that it made me want to pick up the rest of Rusch’s novels. Miles Flint has the attitude and conflicted conscious of a noir gumshoe that I adore and I could not put the book down! Flint is a retrieval artist who is responsible for locating people who have purposefully disappeared. Rusch takes you through the interesting aspects of his craft while whisking you through a futuristic world full of aliens and corrupt business. I like her imagery and the grittiness of the story.

I wish I could provide more info about the actual storyline, but I am afraid that I would spoil it for you. I think Rusch did outstanding with her chosen medium. I have added this series to my reading list and recommend it to anyone who enjoys noir crime and science fiction! Has anyone else read Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s novels?